This is no time to forget about New Orleans

December 25, 2005

We hope that there is not any cause to worry that the city of New Orleans somehow has fallen off the radar. Maybe the public's consciousness, stirred by the horror that was conveyed through relentless news coverage back in September, really hasn't turned away. Maybe it only seems that way. Last week, The Tribune and WSBT sent a team of journalists to the Gulf Coast to record the Christmas season in the aftermath of the greatest natural disaster in the history of this nation. One reason was to capture images that have become hard to find recently: of the recovery, four months into the process. This nation cannot afford to succumb to "disaster weariness" or a short attention span. In New Orleans, the job of rebuilding the historic and once-vibrant city has only just begun. The lives, homes and businesses of some of the people who live there are beginning to come back together. As President Bush has said, and as is apparent to anyone who has visited the city, it will take a massive infusion of money, skills and commitment to complete the job. No task is more urgent or fitting for the federal government than repairing the city's failed levee system. The levees should be constructed to withstand the highest level of tropical storm that is reasonably likely to occur. As experience has shown, that is a Category 5 hurricane. It would be reckless and possibly wasteful for public or private interests to invest billions of dollars in the city without also sufficiently protecting it from future disasters. Tackling the levee infrastructure that is unique to New Orleans is a task that calls for a level of accountability, engineering skills and funding that only the federal government can provide. It is important to remember that Hurricane Katrina was not the cause of much of the destruction in New Orleans. Katrina did a lot of damage. But had the levees not failed, by now the city would be well on its way to planning Mardi Gras 2006 -- more or less as if nothing had happened. Without ascribing blame for a disaster that was rooted in the randomness of nature, it is worth noting that for more than 40 years the Army's Corps of Engineers has had the leading role in designing and maintaining the New Orleans levee system. It now falls to the corps to rebuild the levee infrastructure. A commitment to reinforce the levees so that they will repel all that nature throws at New Orleans will give businesses and residents the confidence they need to return. Once the private sector has repopulated the city, its investments will become the core of New Orleans' permanent recovery. A related priority should be the restoration of the network of barrier islands and coastal wetlands down river from the city. The capacity of marshes to absorb storm water and thus limit the impact of hurricanes is well understood. About a million acres of marshland near the mouth of the Mississippi have been lost because of human intervention in the river's flow. The marsh restoration would lower hurricane tidal surges by several feet. Restoration of the wetlands, like restoration of the levees, is a very doable task -- and, in the long run, affordable. A plan that has been under consideration for a dozen years has been endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences as an effective, relatively quick way to fix the problem. Government exists in order to do for people what they cannot do for themselves. It is the duty of the federal government, on behalf of all of us, to respond effectively to natural disasters. That certainly includes infrastructure restoration that is beyond the means of individuals or lower levels of government. Should as great a need arise at another place or time, it also should be met with the support of a unified nation. That is the pact among us Americans. Anything less sends a terrible message to all who, but for the grace of God, could be the ones who are struggling to recover from a disastrous event.